1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to providing an executable software element to a user agent.
2. Description of Related Art
Mobile Station Application Execution Environment (MExE) is a wireless protocol that is designed to be incorporated into user agents such as smart mobile phones. MEXE's aim is to provide a comprehensive and standardized environment on mobile phones for executing operator or service provider specific applications.
MExE classmarks 2 an 3 are designed as complete application execution environments, using a Java Virtual Machine in the user agent.
The MExE standards define a framework for client/server applications, and define the protocols and language used in client/server negotiation. Each MExE terminal is defined by a set of parameters (e.g. screen size, whether applets are supported or not). These parameters can be organized in different sets (e.g. hardware and software) and are described using the Resource Description Framework (RDF) standard developed by W3C (the World Wide Web Consortium). RDF is based on XML and is used as metadata (i.e. data about data). RDF defines the framework to describe the information, and the syntax is specified by the WAP User Agent Profile (a set of parameters initially designed for WAP terminals).
The RDF files must be provided by the manufacturer, OS/browser vendor, and be stored on the network side. For example, for each release of a new SomeElectronics Co. terminal, the company creates a new hardware RDF file that conveys the information about the new product and is then stored on the network (e.g. on a server operated by the company).
The user can also customize the user agent, simply by using a GUI which can be controlled by the user. The user's preferences can then stored either on the terminal itself or on the network side.
In order for the information provided by the RDF files to be used, a negotiation protocol needs to be used. The MExE specification recommends the CC/PP (Composite Capabilities/Preference Profile) protocol as the negotiation protocol. CC/PP is an exchange protocol using the HTTP extension framework (RFC2774), and therefore is directly included in the HTTP requests/responses.
Basically, this protocol defines where to find the RDF files using a reference mechanism but may directly include some RDF files in its own fields. A CC/PP enabled server retrieves the RDF files from the network side (by issuing requests to the CC/PP repositories), and is then able to process all the information.
However, the standards do not outline any specific implementation strategy. It is therefore an aim of the present invention to provide such a strategy.